


Let's Just Talk About Everything

by RENielsen



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Radio, Alternative Universe - Four Direction, M/M, Niall-centric, Nouis, Radio host Niall, Warning: Use of curse words
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-01
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-05-17 05:15:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5855521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RENielsen/pseuds/RENielsen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not fun for everyone when you talk all the time, exept when you're on the radio. That's probably why Niall works here. </p><p>Au where Niall talk too much for his own good and lives to make people happy all around the world and maybe Louis is the only one who can support his incessant babbling when he's off air.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let's Just Talk About Everything

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thelouistiti](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelouistiti/gifts).



”This is Nighttime Neil, and that was all for today, guys. I’ll be back tomorrow, so remember to tune in on BBC Radio 1 again at the same time as always. I’ll see you there,” Niall finishes the day’s program in the same moment the “On Air” light turns off. The American accent he’s talking with is thick and sounds like he’s born with it. Niall sighs a bit, as he takes off the headphones and puts them down on the table.

He hates this time of the day. Hates when it’s all over and he’ll have to wait until it’s nine pm the next day to be on air once again. His da always says he can talk the ears of a deaf person and his ma says he’s born to change the world for the better. Niall tends to think both of them couldn’t be more right. He absolutely _loves_ talking. Have always done, and probably always will. He wants it to make a difference too, though; wants his words to make someone feel better. As long as at least just one person has a smile on their face once he’s done for the night, then he couldn’t wish for anything else.

Niall has always lived on the energy on the people around him, and has always had a tendency to let everyone’s feeling take over his own. He doesn’t do well with angry, sad and all the feelings in between. He gets all antsy and nervous, whereas when he’s surrounded by happiness and laughter he couldn’t be any happier himself.

So when the producers, Matt and Nina, and their intern for the time, Ana, meets him at the door with big smiles on their faces, Niall can’t help but laugh back at them. Tonight’s show had been incredible, and Niall knows so very well. He can’t wait to hear how many listeners he got tonight.

When Niall started here around six months ago he had kinda thought it would be a dead end having a radio show from nine pm to one am, and in the beginning he had been right in a way. The listeners had been few, but Niall didn’t give up and surprisingly quickly the number of listeners had become bigger and bigger. By now his show is the most popular on Radio 1.

“You smashed it, mate,” Matt grins and holds his hand up in the air to give Niall a high five. Niall doesn’t hesitate letting his hand collide with Matt’s as he proudly grins back.

“I know! Tonight was perfect. I can’t stops thinking about the callers. Why don’t we do that more often? It’s so funny talking to the people listening to me every night. They have so much to say, so much on their minds,” Niall says dreamingly. When he talks now the American accent is gone, and instead it’s his normal and even thicker Irish accent they all get to hear. Most people who hear the shift in accents think it’s a bit scary how fast he can go from sounding like an American to an Irishman. He’s also quite good at sounding British and Australian, if he shall say so himself.

That’s probably some of the best; talking to the listeners when they call in. He never knows how a call will turn out because, as he always encourages them to, they can talk to him about anything. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a problem they want help with or if they just want to share something good that happened that day with him. It makes him feel like that being on the radio can actually change something for the people around him, because most of his listeners always sound ten times happier when he ends the call than when he answers. Especially the ones he’s able to help somehow.

“Not near as much as you, though,” Nina smirks, but Niall knows she doesn’t mean any harm with it. At least not as long as Niall’s talking keeps making the show popular. After all Niall isn’t dumb, and he also knows that he’ll probably never be Nina’s favourite person in the world. She appreciate the ability to talk as long as it’s on the radio, but when he’s off air she mostly finds his babbling annoying. Not that she says, but Niall has never had a hard time reading people. They’re like open books to him, so he doesn’t need for her to say anything. He already knows.

She isn’t the only one either. In the beginning people find him funny and charming but if they’re with him for too long, they don’t look quite as fond anymore. He usually finds some sort of excuse to leave them alone when he sees that expression on their faces, because for some reason he can’t just keep his mouth closed when he’s around someone. Or when he’s alone for that sake, the only difference is that when he’s alone he isn’t talking but instead singing quietly to himself.

The thing is; Niall’s just not _good_ with quiet. His teachers in school hated him, because to them he was just the annoying kid who kept interrupting them and who never was able to following what they were taught in their classes. Honestly, he was barely able to pass high school. Not because he didn’t have the head to be something, but because his mouth had a tendency to ruin every hope of learning anything. When the time had come when his mother had given him flyers for different universities and colleges, Niall had simply chosen he didn’t want to go. Why bother when he probably wouldn’t be able to finish anyway? Instead he had found a job in a small café and later when he realised he couldn’t live on the small salary from the café he had found a second job in a pub. Both jobs had been in walking distance from the flat his da had helped him get, and Niall had enjoyed both jobs. The money wasn’t big, and often he’d have to go home and eat when there simply wasn’t any more money, but Niall liked the work. He was around so many different people each day that he didn’t get to annoy anyone with his chatter, and the most freeing thing about leaving school and find a job instead was that he wasn’t told to shut up every other second.

Then one week, just around seven months ago, this man came into the café. He was there for hours, listening and laughing while Niall talked. The day after he came back once again. The day after that Niall also met him in the pub. The whole week the man came back each day and just listened to Niall. On the last day he came into the café, threw a card on the desk in front of Niall while saying, “Ever thought about working on the radio? Give me a call one day, kid; maybe we can work something out.” With that he had just left, and Niall hadn’t seen him again after that.

It had taken a week for Niall to finally deal the number written on the card, and he was met with a distant, “Hello, you’re talking to Matthew Grey. What can I do for you?” And well that was probably the first time he ever had had a problem with finding his words. In the end he had stuttered out who he was and almost apologetic told why he was calling.

A little over a week later he was standing in the airport in London waiting for Matthew to turn up. He was scared as fuck, and was almost shaking with pure nerves when a fancy car finally showed up in front of him. The man from the café stuck his head out of the window and sent Niall a big smile. 

“I have such a good feeling about you, kiddo. We’re going to make a great team,” he had said before Niall had found the courage to get into the car. “Oh and by the way please call me Matt. I hate Matthew, but my chief insists I use it while doing business.” 

And as Matt had promised over the phone he had a flat ready for Niall, and he used the next couple of days to help Niall settle in and to get to know London. On Niall’s third day there, Matt took him with him to where he was going to work from now on. He was showed the whole building, and saw when the earlier host had their final show before it was Niall’s turn to take over the day after. He got to try it all out so he was sure he knew how to work it all. He immediately fell in love with it all, and when the clock was nine pm the next day, he sat down in his chair and just did what Niall did best; he talked and laughed, and if people hadn’t known better they’d probably have thought he had done it before.

After that he never stopped. He loves what he’s doing and he’s so damn grateful that Matt chose to go to Mullingar of all places to take a vacation all those months ago, because if he hadn’t then Niall would probably still have been back home working his arse of on the café and pub.

“Nobody has as much to say as Niall,” Ana murmurs, and blushes like crazy when she realises that she actually said that out loud. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that!” Niall just laughs sweetly and pats her on the top of her head.

“Don’t worry, love. My parents usually say they’ll stuff my mouth up with something just to get a minute’s peace. I know they won’t though, because even though they’ll probably never admit it, they love hearing me talk. The problem first comes when I stop. Then they really know something is wrong.” That brings a low chuckle out of the nervous girl, which is exactly what Niall aimed for when he said it. He knows how it is to be the ‘new’ in the building, and how nice it is if people at least try to make you smile. He has to say though, that he’s really fucking happy he never had to come here as an intern. At least he isn’t ordered around all the damn time while trying to make everybody happy so there maybe will be a change for him to get a few nice words along with him when he finishes.

No, in that way he was been more than lucky. A young lad, with no education on his hand other than the required school, who got offered something he couldn’t say no to. He probably gets paid more than he deserves, everything considered, and he has had it relative easy along the way. So yeah, Niall does probably not really have anything to complain about. Not that he’s going to do so; he knows how lucky he has been, and he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

As the four of them pack their things so they can go home for the night, Matt says, “Ready for tomorrow then? Another big day, innit?”

“Nervous as hell,” Niall mutters. “Who would have thought that I of all people should be chosen to interview the biggest boy band of the time? It’s fucking crazy!”

“You’re going to do fantastic as always, Niall. Don’t put yourself down like that,” Nina says with a roll of her eyes, and that’s probably some of the sweetest she has ever said to him. Not that she’s normally mean, but she’s a bit... special, when it comes to some things. Like she’s not very good with compliments and that applies on both giving and receiving them.

“Thank you,” he says with a little smile, making her huff like she just realised what actually happened.

“Yeah, well I’m going to leave now. See you all tomorrow,” she says as she hastily leaves the room.

Matt laughs loudly as he takes on his jacket. “Oh, Niall, I swear she’s so in love with you, man! I’ve never seen her being so nice to anyone before.”

“Shut up,” Niall blushes, pushing his friend gently. She’s not, and they both know it. She’s happily married, and would never want Niall like that. Not that he minds, because he’d hate to reject her. It’d really make him feel bad, but girls have just never really been his thing. Like they can be nice and pretty, but he has just never wanted to be with a girl before. “You know I don’t like girls like that!”

“That doesn’t mean girls don’t like you like that. I bet that if you’d just let me use your real name and show the listeners a picture of you, then you’d get more than enough ladies and gentlemen throwing themselves at you. I still don’t understand why you keep insisting they can’t know who’s behind the weird accent.”

“It’s not weird! And I like it this way. I don’t need everyone to know who I am. I like that I can do something good for someone without them knowing it’s me. If I wanted to be famous I’d become a singer, not a radio host, ya know? I’m content with how things are now.”

“I know, Ni. I just want you to be happy.”

“I am though, Matt. Why wouldn’t I be?” He sounds like he mean each and every word he says, and in a way he does. It’s not like he doesn’t have it good, but he understands why Matt worries. He worries Niall’s lonely, and yeah, sometimes he is, but mostly he means what he just said. He’s happy the way things are right now, and he isn’t busy changing everything in a try to feel less alone.

The three of them says their goodbyes, Matt and Ana going home to get some sleep, but Niall finding his way to the overnight café around the corner he always visits when he’s done with a show, because the rush isn’t over yet and Niall is never able to sleep before a couple of hours has went by. Besides, he likes the café. It reminds him a bit of the one he worked in before all this, and he absolutely adores the older lady working there.

He sits behind the desk with her for hours, drinking tea and telling her one story after the other, because as often they’re the only ones being in the café at this time. They don’t really get all that many customers at night, and Niall doesn’t really understand why they insist on keeping it open at night because they can’t really get much out of it. If Niall should take a guess, then it probably cost them more to have the nice lady there at the night shift than they earn from the people coming there through the night. Niall’s grateful that they do though, because else he should have to find a new place to be when he’s done working, and he really doesn’t want to do that. It’s a lovely place, really cosy, and Niall feels at home when he’s here, because as long as he’s here then he isn’t sitting back in his flat all alone without being able to sleep.

It’s past five in the morning when he finally gets his shit together and drives home to get some sleep. After all he has a big day tomorrow, and it probably isn’t the best idea to look like a zombie while doing the interview with One Direction of all people. And Nina would slaughter him, he’s convinced of that.

Niall wakes up again around eleven am. He takes a long shower, makes some breakfast and slowly gets ready for the day. When he’s done, he finds his computer from where it’s hidden under his bed and uses the next few hours going through all the social websites like twitter and tumblr to make sure he has gathered the most important questions the fans seems to have for their idols. He scrolls over the ones that’s ordinary, because he why the freaking fuck should he waste his and everyone else’s time by asking questions they get asked in every other interview. Like seriously Niall doesn’t even know how many times they have been asked if they’re single. It’s such a cliché, and honestly something the fans know already, and if they don’t, they probably wouldn’t take long to find an answer, so no, Niall won’t ask questions like that. He wants to ask question that make people think they have actually gotten something out of listening to his show.

By the time it’s beginning to get dark outside, Niall has finally gathered everything he’ll need for tonight, which is probably kinda lucky because his stomach is rumbling so loud that he wouldn’t be able to think about getting the job done.

After quickly checking his phone, he realises that there’s only about two and a half hour till his show is on air. Instead of cooking like he normally would, he finds his car keys and is out of his flat before long. Everything he’ll need for later is safely placed on the seat beside him, when he drives toward the nearest McDonald. He considers going inside and eating, but ends up just using the drive in instead. He’d feel foolish sitting there alone anyway, so this seems like the better option.

Once he’s gotten his food, he finds a place to park the car, and while he eats he keeps going over the notes he made earlier. He usually doesn’t have a problem at all remembering what he’s going to say through a show, but right now he feels close to panic. For some reason he’s just so, so tired, his head is pounding like crazy and if he opens his mouth, he’s probably going to puke all over himself.

It’s more than a little stupid. Niall wouldn’t even consider himself as a fan of the boys. He can listen to their music, and even like some of the songs, but he’s not totally hyped over them like a lot of people, so he doesn’t even understand himself why he’s feeling like this is the biggest deal in the world. Maybe it’s just because he’s worried he’s going to fuck up and disappoint his listeners, but then again he’s having that feeling every night, and it certainly isn’t feeling like this. It’s like something’s slowly choking him, taking his breath away, and not in a good way. No, Niall is actually a bit worried he’s not going to be able to start breathing again before it’s too late.

He gasps out loud; really trying hard to get his breathing under control, but small black dots is taking over his vision. The dots are slowly making everything black as he passes out for a couple of seconds. When he opens his eyes once again, he feels surprisingly calm considered how he was feeling right before, and he realises what was happening was a full blown panic attack, something he hasn’t had in three years now.

When he was younger he suffered badly from anxiety and panic attacks, and even now he has problems with sleeping and staying still. So yeah he’s surprised it happened, but at the same time not really. He’s more surprised it happened now of all times than the fact that it actually happened. When he was younger they often occurred when he was surrounded by people not when he was alone.

With shaking hands and a head that hurt more than it probably should, Niall takes a deep breath before turning on the car. He casually drives towards his workplace, a bit afraid to drive when he’s still feeling the after effects of the panic attack.

When he gets there he parks the car quickly and takes a look at himself in the rear view mirror. He’s not sure whether or not that was a good idea, because on one side he now knows exactly how terrible he’s looking, but since he doesn’t really have the time to do anything about it, he in some ways would have preferred not knowing anything at all. At least then he wouldn’t have known why everyone is going to stare at him.

And of course he’s right. When he enters the building the first person he sees is Ana, who starts sending him a smile which turns into a worried grimace.

“Are you okay? Did anything happen, Niall?”

“No, it’s just one of those days, ya know?” he lies with a light chuckle. He runs his fingers through his hair in a try to make it look better. It probably doesn’t work at all, but fuck it! This is the radio anyway. There isn’t going to be any cameras in there with them, so the only people who’re going to see him like this are his co-workers and One Direction.

“Okay... if you say so,” she says, not looking very convinced at all. For a moment she hesitates a little, like she’s considering whether or not she should call him out on the lie, but then she just shakes her head a little, sends him a weak smile before heading of, probably to see if there’s anything she’ll have to help with before they start up.

Niall checks his phone to see how long there is to show start. Twenty-three minutes. The boys should be here soon, if they aren’t already. They could be for all he knows, but he has the feeling someone would have said something if they were, so he thinks they have yet to arrive.

He walks to his premises – or well they aren’t _his_ exactly, just they are his from eight pm to two am. So right now he pretends he’s cool enough to actually have his own – which consists of the room where the magic happens, and then a cosy room with soft couches, a telly with a PlayStation, a desk with a computer to work on, and of course snacks.

He throws himself down on one of the couches and doesn’t even bother to try going through his notes again. Instead he closes his eyes in the hope of getting rid of his headache before the boys of One Direction are going to be here.

Only five minutes later that hope is ruined when four very loud boys enter the room with Ana in front of them to show them the way. Niall’s really tempted to just pretend he’s asleep, but he knows that would be looked at with bad eyes and that he probably would be scolded for it tomorrow, so he takes a second longer to convince himself it’s a good idea, before he opens his eyes and gets up from the very, _very_ comfy couch. In front of him are Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Zayn Malik standing.

“You must be Nighttime Neil,” Harry says clearly excited, and sticks his hand out for Niall to shake. Niall absently shakes his hand shortly before letting go of it. “I’m sorry I don’t know your real name. No one here told us, and you never say it on your shows. I’m a big fan by the way. Loves your witty comments, and all the music you plays is absolutely amazing. It’s like you have literally found my list of favourite songs and makes sure to only play them.”

“Give the lad a break, H.” Louis rolls his eyes at Harry, but to Niall it seems like he’s just as excited as Harry, but that he just shows it different. Actually all four of them look at him with those same curious and almost adoring eyes that make Niall kinda uncomfortable.

In a moment of panic he forgets about the accent and just talks like he normally would. The Irishman in him is clear to hear to anyone who isn’t deaf or just simply dumb. “I’m happy you like the show,” he squeals, making every single one of them look at him with gobsmacked expressions. Even Ana looks shocked. Shit!

“Oh man, you’re Irish! That’s cool, but what’s with the accent on your shows?” Harry babbles cutely.

He’s so fucked right now. He doesn’t want them to know anything. He just wants to be the American radio host in England known as Nighttime Neil. He doesn’t say anything, doesn’t what it should be, just looks at Ana panicked. When she shrugs helplessly, Niall takes a deep breath before speaking.

“I’m not Irish. I just like to make pranks on my guests when they come here.” This time he sounds almost exactly like Harry. Kinda creepy he’ll admit, but he’s also kind of proud. He’s getting better at this.

“You’ve still not given us your name,” Liam says almost suspiciously and with a frown on his face like he doesn’t really believe a word coming from Niall’s mouth. Niall can’t really blame him. After all it’s all lies. He’ll have to work on being better at lying. This is now the second time just today someone looks at him with that expression on their faces.

“Neil, therefore the while Nighttime Neil thing,” he says sassily, finally getting the American accent right. “Thought that would be obvious to everyone, but I see I was wrong about that.”

His words sound harsh – he’s _so_ going to hear for this tomorrow. There’s no way the boys aren’t going to say something about him being a right brat – but the words do what Niall aimed for. They make all four of them shut up. They also make both Harry and Liam look like kicked puppies, Zayn glare at him and Louis look at him like he’s a puzzle he needs to solve.

He feels so bad, and he really doesn’t know what just came over him! He never acts like that towards anyone, but there’s a reason he wanted to be anonymous to begin with, and he really doesn’t feel like these four boys knowing who he is. The only ones who do are his family and the people working here, and Niall would like it to stay like that.  He wants to be able to do good things without anyone knowing it’s him doing them.

“Sor...” he begins his apology, but doesn’t get any longer as Matt and Nina enters the room.

“Fantastic, you’re all here. This is probably nothing new to any of you, but let’s go over it anyway. The show starts at nine, and Neil will start it out like usual, crack a few jokes before introducing you all. He’ll play some songs then there’ll be around fifteen minutes’ interview before he’s going to play a couple of songs more. After that there’ll be another ten to fifteen minutes to talk, before you all say goodbye and carry on like usual, everyone got it? Perfect,” Nina says with a big, very fake smile. She opens the door into the booth and herds them all in there, as she says, “Five minutes, guys. Get comfortable and get ready. You’re on soon.”

Niall just rolls his eyes at her, before finding his place in the soft chair behind the computer that contains all he’s going to need. He places his notes on the table besides the computer, and puts on his headphones. When he looks up he sees that the boys has followed him inside and has taken a seat on the four chairs places in front of him.

On the other side of the booth, Niall can see Matt and Nina, and someone who’s either from the boys’ management or security team take place and getting ready for the show in the other room.

Matt sends him a smile and holds up three fingers to signal how long they have left.

The silence in the room is really awkward and Niall can’t help but feel bad when he sees how sad Harry looks. He could just as well have kicked a puppy or stolen candy from a little kid. He’ll have to do something to make it up to them, because there’s no way he’ll be able to live with himself if they go home thinking he’s a stupid jerk.

“Two minutes,” he murmurs softly, noticing the blinking light that tells him that the show’s about to start any minute now. The boys nod and each take a pair of headphones and put them on so they’re ready for when they’re live.

The light stops blinking and turns green. They’re live.

“You’re listening to BBC’s radio 1, this is Nighttime Neil, and I’m probably going to say a lot of stupid shit through the next four hours, so get ready peps, or tune off you can always do that too if it gets that bad, but let’s hope not, right? The last week I’ve had a countdown going on, and today is finally the day! Yes, I can proudly say that today I’m finally going to introduce the incredible Ed Sheeran... wait a little! That’s first next week. Damn it Matt, I thought we talked about this! Don’t give me next week’s notes!” Matt makes a grimace at him, making Niall chuckle lightly. “Matt says sorry, but once we’re at it, I can begin the next countdown. Six days to go to Ed Sheeran is going to sit with me right here in this studio. From tomorrow and to six days from here I’m going to play one of Ed Sheeran’s song each day, and on Friday a loyal listener can call in and if they’re able to give me the name of all six songs they’re going to win tickets to Sheeran’s next gig here in London. And that’s not all, my lovely friends, because not only is the winner going to Sheeran’s gig, they’re also going to meet him and the meet and greet. I know, I know, I’m awesome as a dog skateboarding, but now to what should have been standing in those freaking notes. Ladies and Gentlemen welcome in the studio the amazing and talented One Direction! With me are Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson. Say hello, guys.”

“Hello, London!” they yell in unison into the microphones, making Niall wince a bit when he both hears the yelling from the headphones and from the boys in front of him. Not a good combination at all, Niall will tell you that much!

“Hey! Don’t forget everyone else. Do you really not think I have more listeners than just London,” Niall says, faking to be hurt for the sake of the effect. “I can to your fact tell you that my listeners are the best in the whole world and that every single one of them deserves a greeting, so you can do better than that.”

“Uh... hello world?” Harry says sweetly, trying to please. He looks unsure at Niall, probably thinking Niall is going to say something mean.

“Better, Harold, I’m happy for the effort. Can’t really say the other three gave much to be honest. I think you’re my favourite, and just because of that I’m going to tell you a secret, but only if you promise not to tell any of the others.”

“I promise.”

Niall leans all the way over to the microphone, and whispers loudly, “I’ve heard that the awesome radio host Nighttime Neil is having some pretty cool guests on his show today, and that if they’re lucky he has a surprise for them.”

“Do you think they’re lucky then?” Harry whispers just as loud as Niall, smiling like something incredible has just happened. A Liam and Louis chuckle at them, but Zayn just rolls his eyes. For some reason Niall has this feeling the lad isn’t all that fond of him anymore.

“I don’t know, they might be. Let’s wait and see. Now I’m going to play you all a couple of songs, but remember to stay tuned in because soon we’re going to hear more about our all time favourite boyband One Direction. Here comes my most listened to song by the boys, History!”

Niall puts the song on, and takes off the headphones, making them hang around his neck, so he’s able to hear the song still, but also will be able to hear if the boys are going to say something. For around half the song no one says a word, but then Louis almost softly says, “You’re kinda weird, innit?”

“I am not,” he protests weakly, knowing very well that with what have happened the last half an hour, he’s probably not going to win that argument anyway. “And I’m sorry for being rude. I-I’ve just had a bad day, not that that is any excuse for being a brat, but I had and I’m very sorry about that.” Yeah well there’s that, and then the fact he messed up totally and panicked in a try to cover it up, but they don’t need to know that part of it all.

“It’s okay, everyone can have a bad day,” Harry murmurs with a little blush, looking at Niall adoringly.

“For fuck sake, Haz, can you tone down your crush on Neil just a little bit? It’s very obvious that you’re making him uncomfortable,” Louis says sassily. The faint pink colour becomes deeply red, as Harry smacks Louis over the top of his head.

“Shut up!” he whines embarrassed.

They bicker some more, but Niall chooses to ignore them as History ends and he has to put on the next song on the list. When the song is playing, he takes a look at the boys and sees how Louis and Harry is still arguing friendly and Liam and Zayn is looking  at them fondly. A sudden feeling of jealousy overwhelms him as he watches them. He wants that too. Wants to be a part of a group like that, a family more like, because even though he do have a family they’re all still in Ireland and here in London he only really have Matt. Nina and Ana doesn’t really count because Nina is a little on and off whether she likes him or not, and he has almost just met Ana and beside the young girl is a wreck every time she’s near anyone working here because she’s so nervous about it all.

So yeah Niall just wants a family here too, so he doesn’t have to feel lonely anymore.

¤¤¤

“Hey! Neil! Wait up, mate,” a voice yells behind him when Niall is walking towards the little café like he does every night after his show is over. As he turns around he sees Louis running after him in a try to catch up with Niall. The lad is still wearing the black and white snapback, with _BBC Radio 1 – Nighttime Neil_ standing on it, Niall gave them as the ‘surprise’ he promised Harry. Niall’s confused, but begins walking slower anyway. “Where are you going?” he asks breathlessly when he finally reaches Niall. He sends him a big toothy smile, and Niall can’t help but smile back gently.

“There’s this café around the corner that keeps open all night. I usually go take a cup of tea or coffee before heading home. You know to wind down enough to be able to sleep. The lady working there at night is really lovely too,” Niall murmurs, nodding in the direction he’s heading and making sure he remembers the accent.

Louis just nods a little, but keeps following him along the way. When they reach the café Niall stops up a little unsure. “Well this is me. Thank for the interview tonight. I’m sure it was ace.”

“Oh, I’m going in with you. Could use a good cup of tea, you know? I don’t really feel like going home and sleep either right now,” he says cheerfully and puts his arms around Niall’s shoulder as he opens the door and leads him into the café like he owns the place.

 _He probably hasn’t even been here before,_ Niall thinks a bit annoyed. This is his place, what the hell is Louis doing? And an even better question; why is he doing it? He sends Louis a confused look, but ends up just nodding lightly. It’s not like he’d really be able to stop him anyway, right? It’s not like _Niall_ owns the place either so if Louis wants to go in there and drink a cup of tea before heading home it’s not for Niall to decide.

“Niall!” Samantha, or as Niall calls her Sam, greets him with a small grin. Louis sends him an odd look but decides not to say anything about it.

Shit! This is a total disaster. Sam only knows him as the Irish young lad named Niall, whereas he to Louis is the American radio host Neil.

“Hey, Sam,” he says with a sigh, deciding that fuck it; Louis already knows by now he has been lying about the name. Why not get his nationality out in the light too? Louis once again just sends him a look, but chooses not to say something, but Niall doesn’t really doubt that he’s not going home tonight before he has explained every single little detail to Louis.

It’s... nice, actually. Having Louis there, he means. The lad is chatty and he seems so like Sam as much as Niall does, and at the same time he doesn’t seem to mind listening to Niall talking. Actually every time Niall stops talking he seems almost disappointed and begins asking questions to make Niall keep talking. Sam seem to enjoy it all too. She has to leave them a couple of times to serve some costumers coming in, but the rest of the time she sits with them at their table listening and laughing softly. It’s six o’clock before Niall even realises the time has went, and the only reason he realises what time it is, is because Sam’s shift ends at six am.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Ni,” she says, wrinkling her eyebrows at him as she sends Louis a glance. “And hopefully also you sometime soon, Louis. It has been nice having a bit of life here through the night.”

They watch her leave in silence, but as soon as she’s out the door, Niall slowly gets up and gathers his things. “I should get home too. Have to get some sleep before the show tonight.”

“I’ll follow you home,” Louis says immediately, getting up too.

“Uh, my car is parked by the radio station. I’ll just have to walk over there, so no need to,” he mutters, hoping but not thinking that Louis has forgotten about earlier.

“I’ll follow you to your car then.”

The determined expression on Louis’ face easily tells him that he’s not going to win this, and that there’s no fucking way he has forgotten about it at all. Okay then. Better just get it done and over with as soon as possible. Niall nods and shrugs at the same time, pretending he doesn’t really care what Louis is going to do, when really, it makes his heart beat a little faster.

“So... Niall? Neil? What’s that about then?” he asks after a couple of seconds of walking.

“Nothing really. I’m just not like you. I don’t want everybody to know who I am. Quite enjoy being able to walk down the street without somebody following every step I take. Not that it would ever be as bad as what you have to live with of course, but still I’m just not interested at all. It’s weird enough being in London, ya know? Like I’m from a little town in Ireland called Mullingar, have never really been used to this many people and would probably die from a panic attack if I was ever mobbed like you gets sometimes.” He says it with a shrug like it really doesn’t mean anything and that he’s just being stupid, but in reality Niall has probably never said anything more true. He wouldn’t be able to handle it, he knew that before the panic attack earlier and he definitely knows it now.

“So the name and the accent are fake. What else? Or maybe you should just tell me what’s true instead.”

“Well, I’m obviously not from America either. Has in fact never been there. Actually I haven’t been anywhere but Ireland and England, now I think about it. Everything else? I think it’s all been true. At least I can’t really think of anything I’ve lied about besides those things. What about you then? Is everything you say in interviews and stuff all true, or anything you’d like to share now we’re at it?”

He sends Louis a wicked grin when he says the last, not really thinking he’s going to get anything out of it at all, and as it turns out he’s right, because Louis just shrugs lightly, looking like he’s thinking really hard about it, but in the end not saying a thing. Niall doesn’t pressure him into doing so. It’s none of his business anyway, and he’d hate having to force the words out of the pop stars mouth. He’s just not that kind of guy, and he’ll never be.

Niall stops in front of his car as they finally reaches the parking space, and only a second later Louis has stopped beside him while looking at him with a light frown. “This is me. Thanks again for the interview and for your company. It was nice,” he says in all honesty. It was nice after all, and he doesn’t see anything wrong in telling him so.

Niall gets in behind the wheel and gets as long as to turn the car on before a light knocking on the window stops him from driving anywhere. He rolls the window down and looks confused at Louis, who just smiles sweetly before saying, “I’ll see you around, Niall.” He sounds so bloody confident it almost freaks Niall out. Like he just _knows_ this won’t be the last time they see each other, even though Niall really can’t imagine where they should possible meet each other again. Niall’s pretty damn sure they do not go the same places to shop groceries, have fun or anything else for that matter. If that had been the case then they’d met before now, but no, this is the first time Niall has ever even been near Louis Tomlinson, so unless it’s because the older boy actually _wants_ to see him again then he can’t see how.

Just as he’s about to open his mouth to give back a snarky remark – well maybe not so snarky because he can literally not think of anything – Niall realises that Louis has already turned around and is quickly disappearing around the corner, which is probably good, because in this way he can’t humiliate himself more than he already has tonight.

With a sigh he drives home, and gets ready for bed. As he lies there waiting for sleep to take over, he finally realises how fucking _lonely_ he really is. Like only a couple of hours with Louis while drinking tea has made him realise how much he misses to have somebody around. Not necessarily as a boyfriend or girlfriend, because it’s not like he has had much of those to begin with, but more just the human contact outside work with somebody that isn’t forced to hold him company. Like Louis could have walked out of the café at any point, or simply not have went along, but he didn’t. He stayed there until it was Niall’s decision they should leave and even then Louis chose to stay with him as long as possible.

Niall still wonders why he even did that to begin with, but he liked it. Liked the feeling of not being alone for a while, but now it keeps him awake, longing for getting that feeling back, because lying there in his way to big bed makes him feel more alone than he has for a while.

When he finally falls asleep his dreams is hunted by blue eyes, wild brown hair and a laugh and smile that makes Niall’s heart jump a beat.

It goes on for another week. Every time he goes to sleep he dream about Louis, and he can’t really figure out whether or not sleeping is his favourite time of the day. No matter what though, he probably haven’t slept this much since he was a little kid, because even though he doesn’t go to bed any earlier than usual he still sleeps way longer than he’d do on an average day.

After the first week though, Niall also kinda has given up on the thought of going to see Louis again. As he thought it wouldn’t just be as easy as the pop star had made it sound like. After all they’re two very different people, not that there’s anything wrong with that at all. Still although they are very different, Niall also sees how much they’re alike.

Niall’s sitting at the café, after his show where he had Ed Sheeran in the studio has ended, and for once he isn’t talking Sam’s ears of. Instead he’s sitting quietly and alone at a table with a cup of coffee, just watching her as she serves a couple of uni students who’re up late. Not that surprising really. Every once in a while some young guys and girls comes in, ordering way too much coffee for their own good, looking stressed as they’re probably thinking of the paper they have to write. Once again he couldn’t be any happier that it all worked out for him even though he chose not to get an education. Probably not many people have it as easy as him without having used years of their lives studying.

“You really spent every single night here, don’t you?” someone whispers into his ear, making Niall jump a little in pure shock. The warmth from the breath give Niall goosebumps all over, but also make him feel warm inside.

Without turning around he casually says, “Are you stalking me since you can say that sounding so sure of yourself?”

“Stalking? No! This lovely café just happens to be placed where I like to drive past every night,” Louis says cheekily, as he finally takes a place in the chair beside Niall’s. He looks at Niall with a grin as he takes the younger boys cup and takes a sip of it. The face he makes when he does so, really makes Niall want to choke out in laugher, but he doesn’t and instead he just smiles sweetly when Louis disgusted pushes the cup back in front of Niall.  Louis makes a face, mutters something that sounds like, “Gross! How can you even get yourself to drink it?” Niall just rolls his eyes and takes a sip of the coffee.

“Tell me something then; if you so happens to drive by every night, how come you haven’t joined me before now? It seems like a waste just to drive by.” 

“Well you see, every night when I drive by, this cute boy is sitting in there talking to his lady friend, and without even knowing it himself, making me nervous as hell. Tonight though, was the first night I saw the cute boy sitting all alone, and I thought to myself, ‘why don’t go keep him company? He seems a bit lonely,’ so that’s what I did, and now we’re here.”

“Oh... did the cute boy disappear since you’re sitting here with me?” Niall says challenging, quirking an eyebrow. He wants to hear him say that he finds Niall cute, and at the same time he really doesn’t, because what should he do with that exactly? The way Niall sees it, then even if Louis really is flirting with him right now, then it would never become anything as long as Louis is in One Direction, because he can’t really imagine that it would be looked at with nice eyes if he suddenly comes out as gay or even bi.

When he sees the way Louis smiles all cutely with a tender look in his eyes, Niall really wished it’d actually be that easy, which is just stupid. He has known him for a week, and within that week met him twice. He shouldn’t... he shouldn’t wish for Louis to be able to be with him like they were a normal young couple in love.

“No, he didn’t. Now, tell me what I’ve missed since last time I saw you,” he says gently, and sounds and look truly excited as he waits for Niall to begin telling.

Niall only watched him for a second before beginning to talk. After all it’s a long time since someone really _asked_ him to tell them about his week, and there’s no way he’s going to miss this opportunity to talk all he wants without getting faces of boredom in return. So he talks. Talks about what has happened while he was working, even though by the look on Louis’ face he has been listening to every show, he talks about the jokes and pranks him and Matt have pulled on each other, and about the conversations he has had with Sam. He tells about some funny things he has seen or heard, and when he doesn’t have any more to say about his week, Louis asks other questions to keep him talking.

He almost doesn’t notice when Sam comes by the table to say goodbye, and he certainly doesn’t notice when the sun rises and more people enters the café. He could probably have been sitting there with Louis forever, just talking about everything and nothing, if it wasn’t because his voice begins sounding hoarse and scratchy at some point around noon. He would have kept talking even with that, if it hadn’t been for Louis who chooses to stop him there.

Louis puts a hand on Niall’s arm to get his attention, whereupon he holds a finger in front of his lips. He doesn’t even say a word, but Niall understands. He understands that he has to stop talking now if he in any way wants to talk on his show tonight, and he understands that, although Louis doesn’t directly say so, the older boy doesn’t really want him to stop, but that he knows Niall can’t talk forever.

So it’s in silence they pack their things and walks out of there together. Louis walks Niall to his car again, and this time he doesn’t wait until Niall’s inside the car till he decides to say something. “Go home and sleep, love. I’ll see you.”

“I’ll see you,” Niall repeats hoarsely.

He watches Louis walk away, before he turns on his car and drives home. He’s asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow, Louis being the last thing he thinks about before he’s off to dreamland.

¤¤¤

For a week Niall uses hours looking out of the window when he’s sitting next to Sam, almost not talking at all, waiting and hoping to see Louis walking through the door, but ending up being disappointed every single night. In the beginning of week two, he realises that he’s stupid. Someone as famous as Louis doesn’t have time for little insignificant Niall, who only means something when he’s playing Nighttime Neil, and even if he did have the time, then why in the world would he use it on Niall of all people?

Niall understands that Louis probably have many people in his life that means way more than a boy he has met twice, the only thing; Niall would just wish he had that too.

In the end of week three without seeing or hearing a thing from Louis, Niall finds out that the bands is currently touring around the US and won’t be back in London for another month.

In the middle of week four, Matt shows him a clip of the boys doing an interview in LA. The interviewer, a young and very pretty woman, is so cliché and nothing exciting happens till they’re seven minutes into the video, where she asks something kinda weird for a One Direction interview.

“ _So last month, if I’m not totally wrong, you were doing an interview with in London with BBC’s very own Nighttime Neil. The interview broke records with how many people was listening. Nobody seems to know who’s hosting the show,_ _but everyone would like to know, so_ _as one of the few who has actually met him, can you tell me a bit about him?”_ The women looks so excited like she’s hoping to get every little detail they can remember.

“When the bloody hell did my show become such a big thing in America?” Niall sputters, seriously hoping the boys will know they shouldn’t say a thing.

“Well you had quite a few listeners from over there already, but you really became popular after the series of interviews you did with 1D, Sheeran and so on. As the woman said; everyone wants to know who you are,” Matt says with a shrug, like it doesn’t really mean all that much. It does to Niall though, because if they find out, things are going to change and he doesn’t want that.

“It’s quite good PR for you,” Nina adds. “Through the last month your listeners has doubled. So many people love you and your show. It’s quite pleasing to see actually. When Matt first brought you over here, I would never have thought you’d be such a success.”

Niall chooses not to answer any of them, and instead focusing on the video to he can figure out in how much trouble he’s in.

“... _funny lad. Not quite what I expected before we arrived, but in a way he was better,”_ Harry says with a nervous smile, not quite looking at the lady as he answers. They all look so uncomfortable and mutter some half hearted answers that don’t really answer her question at all.

 _“C’mon. Can you give us more than that?”_ she presses, while making sure she looks as innocent as possible.

Harry opens his mouth again to give an answer, but Louis sends him a look that obviously means ‘shut the fuck up’, before speaking up himself. _“There’s a reason that no one knows who he is, and it’s not up to us to blow his cover, if that isn’t what he wants. I, personally, find him quite amazing. I offered him tea after the interview and we talked for a couple of hours. Very nice and, as Harry said, funny lad, and we’re not going to say anymore about that subject, so if you please could go on with the interview_ ,” he says looking irritated and with a frown on his face.

Niall couldn’t be more grateful. He sees how the woman looks both shocked and offended as she goes on with her boring clichés. She had probably thought she could get something good out of the boys, that could make herself popular. Too fucking bad. As he closes the laptop, he takes a deep, relieved breath. He’s safe.  For now at least.

As nine pm rolls around, Niall is sitting in his booth alone and waiting quietly for the lamp to stop blinking so he knows he’s live. When it does, Niall looks down at his notes, but not a sound leaves him. He can see Matt and Nina signalling for him to begin, but still a whole minutes passes before he has gathered his thoughts enough to begin speaking.

“I’ve heard that I’ve gotten quite a few new listeners lately. That’s nice, and I hope you enjoy the ride, but...” Niall stops for a moment while thinking the sentence through so he’s sure it comes out right. “But today I also found out that there’s this big hunt going on; who can find out who Nighttime Neil is. Please don’t. Everybody chooses how they want to live their lives, and if there’s something I do not want, then it’s for you all to know who’s behind the voice. My name isn’t Neil, and you know what? I’m not even American; I’m just hella good at accents. I talk too much, and I live to make people happy every night when I’m on air. When I’m off air I still talk too much, and when it’s possible I still try to make someone smile, but I don’t want fame, I just wants to be me. That’s _my_ choice. Please, respect my choice, just as I each day respect every single one of you.”

That night ends up being the first night Niall doesn’t do a whole show, since he started now seven months ago. He walks out of the booth after that, not even stopping when Matt and Nina begs him to stay and finish the show. It’s also the first night in seven months he doesn’t go to the café. Instead he takes his car and drives home to his way too big flat. He never did understand why Matt gave him such a big place before even knowing he’d end up being somebody.

For a moment he just sits on the couch looking out in the air, but after sighing a little he finds his computer and goes on twitter as the first thing. After all he’ll have to find out how bad it is somehow, right? His notes, massages and homepage are overflowing, and top trending is #NighttimeNeil #RespectMyChoice and #WhoIsBehindTheVoice. Well that went surprisingly fast.  Nina and Matt must be right; Niall has gotten more popular through the last month.

He clicks on the hashtag #NighttimeNeil and scrolls down the page. He’s not really surprised with what he finds. Around half of the people wants to know who he is, the other half trying to respect him, but is probably just as curious as the rest. He mostly just scrolls down, not really reading the tweets, but more looking for the tags. First when he comes by a familiar name, he stops to read the tweet.

 **Louis Tomlinson** _@Louis_Tomlinson |26 min._

#RespectMyChoice just as I each day respect every single one of you. ~ #NighttimeNeil

That’s all; Niall’s last words before leaving the studio. He honestly doesn’t need any more than that, because this must mean that even though Louis hasn’t been able to come see him, he has still listened to him every single night.

With a little sigh he begins tapping a tweet of his own.

 **Nighttime Neil** _@BBC_Radio1_NTN | 10 sek._

Get some sleep, I know I will.  Will be back tomorrow, strong as ever.

Niall doesn’t go to bed though, not even when he sees Louis tweeting _Night, love,_ which is without any doubt a message for him. Instead he closes the laptop and places it on the little table in front of the couch. He walks out in the kitchen and makes himself a cup of tea. He prepares the tea like he has seen Louis do in the café, and sits back down in the couch, this time with his phone in his hand.

“ _Niall. Care to tell me what that was about?”_ his mother, Maura, asks as soon as she answers the phone. As he had known she had listened to his show as she usually does. _Just to hear your voice, love,_ as she’ll always say when he asks her why.

“I can’t keep doing this if people know who I am, Ma. The panic attacks have been back lately, and if people find out it’ll all be way worse. I-I can’t handle that. I just can’t,” he whispers, because the panic attacks are bad enough as they are. Ever since the one at the night of the interview with the boys, he has had three more though the last month. It’s going to take the life of him, if he has to deal with them on the same strength as when he was a child.

“There’s something more, isn’t there?”

“Yeah... I think I’m in love with someone I’ve only met twice,” he admits sheepishly, for a second forgetting about the panicking thoughts.

“Oh, really? Tell me about the lucky lad,” she says a bit more excited.

“It’s Louis Tomlinson from One Direction, and I’m probably more than a little stupid for allowing meself to feel like this, because it’ll never work, but I can’t just _not_ feel anything,” he babbles, for once hoping she’ll tell him to shut up. She doesn’t, instead she just laughs quietly.

“Why shouldn’t it work? If the lad is as fond of you as you are of him, then he wouldn’t let anything stop him from being with you, and neither should you, Ni baby. I understand that you’re scared, but I don’t think the panic attacks are only because of your fear of being found out. I think it has just as much to do with this whole Louis thing. Take one day at the time, and remember to stop up and take a deep breath when it all feels like too much.”

“I will. Goodnight, Ma, love you.”

“Night, baby. Sleep well.”

The call ends and not long after Niall is fast asleep on the couch. This probably being the first time in years he has fallen asleep so early, and when he wakes up the next morning at a time where he some days first would be on his way to bed, he doesn’t really know what to do with himself. In the end he slowly gets up, his whole body hurting from sleeping on the couch, and gets ready for the day.

When he has eaten breakfast and is freshly out of the shower, hair still slightly damp, he stands in his living room a little lost. Normally he’d be preparing tonight’s show, but since he never got to do last night’s, there’s no need to. It’s nine in the morning, and he has twelve hours before his show starts. The fuck do people do with so much spare time?

After thinking for a bit, he goes through his kitchen to see if he needs to go grocery shopping. After all it’s been a while since he last bothered doing so, and yeah as it turns out it’s kinda empty. From he begins making a list over what he needs to the time he’s back home with two bags in his hands, the total of an hour goes by. Three hours later he has done all his laundry, cleaned the whole flat and taken a nap, because why not?

With a sigh he takes on his shoes and a jacket. He doesn’t even have a plan; he just needs to get out of the flat before he becomes crazy from doing nothing. He opens the front door, and almost chokes on his own breath from pure shock. In front of him, with a fist in the air like he’s about to knock on the door, is Louis standing with a grin on his face.

“Ready to go, I see. Perfect, come on,” he says, taking a grip on Niall’s arm, as he drags the younger boy with him. He doesn’t stop before they reach a fancy looking car. He pushes Niall into the backseat of the car before following behind him.

“All set, Paul,” Louis says as he fastens first Niall and then himself.

Niall is so confused. Why is Louis here? _How_ is he here? Aren’t he supposed to be on tour in freaking _America_? How did he know where Niall lives? Where are they going? Who is Paul exactly? Is he being kidnapped? Okay the last one is ridiculous, he knows that, but that doesn’t make him any less confused about what is happening.

“Where are we going?” he demands. If anything then he should be allowed to know where they’re taking him.

“It’s a surprise, Niall. You’ll just have to wait and see,” Louis answers excited.

Okay, maybe the last one wasn’t so ridiculous after all. Maybe be is actually being kidnapped right now. He chooses not to say anything though, and instead just waits to see where Louis is taking him. He has to say though; he becomes a little worried when they’re still driving half an hour later.

“You do realise that I have a show tonight, right? I can’t really bail on it two days in a row,” Niall says with a frown.

“Aw c’mon, Niall. Don’t be such a buzz killer! We’re having fun aren’t we?” he says slyly. “And don’t worry so much. I’ll get you to work before nine.”

It takes another five minutes driving before Louis holds up a piece of cloth and says, “Here, let me blindfold you.” He must see the look Niall sends him, because only a second later he adds, “So the surprise isn’t ruined of course. Please?” The look on Louis face belongs on a puppy so cute is it, and Niall has never been good at saying no to the puppy eyes. Especially not when it’s Louis who sends them to him, as it turns out, because he can’t even argue, when Louis gently places the fabric in front of his eyes, making everything dark.

A couple of minutes more go before the car stops and Louis mutters, “Thanks Paul, we’ll be back here at seven.”

He helps Niall out of the car, before carefully guiding him step for step. Niall looses count of time as they slowly moves, but he quickly gets the idea of where they are after the fifth branch brushes him.

“You’re going to kill me, aren’t you,” he says a little panicked. “Kill me and dump me in the forest where no one is ever going to find me. My poor parents, they’ll be so worried, when they don’t hear anything from me, will think terrible things and not knowing how right they are,” he babbles nervously, making Louis laugh out loud.

“I promise, I won’t kill you, Niall,” he says still laughing. “You’re too cute to be dumped in a forest anyway.”

“Well, that’s reassuring,” Niall mutters sarcastically while rolling his eyes, even though Louis isn’t able to see because of the dumb blindfold.

“Just another minute, then we’ll be there.” As promised only around a minute passes before Louis makes Niall stop, and before he takes of the blindfold.

It’s... it’s beautiful, Niall has to admit that. They’re in a meadow, the sun is shining and Louis has gotten a picnic ready for them in the middle of it all. Niall can’t help but blush lightly when he realises how much trouble Louis must have been through just to get all this together so they could eat lunch together.

“I-I’m not sure I understand,” he says out of breath.

All of a sudden Louis’ smile disappears and a light frown turns up. He looks just as nervous as Niall feel. “You just sounded so sad on your show yesterday, and I wanted to do something nice for you. And I think I might like you. Like I could listen to you talk forever and the last month the only thing I’ve been able to think about is you. I got so angry with everyone when I heard you yesterday, because that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you sound sad, and you’re not supposed to sound sad or be sad. You should always be happy, so that’s why I’m here; to try make you smile even with all that’s going on. And...” Louis doesn’t get any longer, because without really being able to think Niall just the first thing that comes to his mind. His heart is beating hard and he’s sure Louis must be able to hear, and his palms feel sweaty and gross. Nevertheless though, Niall leans in and places his lips on Louis’.

It’s kinda terrible if he has to be honest; too much teeth and Louis is still trying to say something as he kisses him, but Niall doesn’t regret doing it, because Louis shuts up and gently places his hands on Niall’s cheeks as he carefully but at the same time firmly holds Niall’s head in place, and he turns the horrible kiss into something that’s worth remembering.

It feels like forever, but at the same time not long enough, before they breathlessly have to stop the kiss. Louis rests his forehead on Niall and just looks him into the eyes.

“Would it be weird and too soon if I say I think I’m in love with you?” Niall whispers, searching Louis eyes for answers as much as he listens to the answer.

“No, it wouldn’t. You can say everything you want to me and it wouldn’t be weird, too much or anything but perfect. I love listening to your voice.” And yeah, Niall believes him, because he doesn’t think he has ever heard anyone sound so sincere before.

“That’s good because I quite like talking. I’ve heard I’m good at it,” he says cockily.

“You are,” Louis laughs as he takes Niall’s hand and drags him over to where the picnic is set up. “Now, please, do what you do best. Tell me everything or nothing, as long as you just keep talking.”

And Niall does. He talks so much that when he has to do his show that evening you almost can’t hear him because he’s so hoarse. Niall still believes it’s his best show yet, because the whole time, Louis is sitting beside him, looking at him fondly, and Niall just can’t stop smiling.

For a while Niall worries a lot about everything, but as time goes it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter the day they by an accident comes out to the whole world because they can’t keep their fingers to themselves, and it doesn’t matter the day people put things together and figure out that Niall is in fact the mysterious Nighttime Neil. It doesn’t matter the day they’re mobbed by fans either, because through all those days he has Louis beside him.

So yeah, Niall talks a lot, but he probably won’t stop anytime soon, because each day he has this lovely boy telling him to never stop, and who’s Niall to deny him anything?

**Author's Note:**

> You can also find me [here](http://nialliesmiley.tumblr.com/post/152195292823/lets-just-talk-about-everything-niall-horanlouis) :)


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